Related papers: Geometric Reheating after Inflation
We numerically investigate the decay, via parametric resonance, of the inflaton with an m^2 phi^2 potential into a scalar matter field with a symmetry breaking potential. We consider the case where symmetry breaking takes place during…
We consider the scale-invariant inflationary model studied in [1]. The Lagrangian includes all the scale-invariant operators that can be built with combinations of $R$, $R^2$ and one scalar field. The equations of motion show that the…
We discuss the gravitational creation of superheavy particles $\chi$ in an inflationary scenario with a quartic potential and a non-minimal coupling between the inflaton $\varphi$ and the Ricci curvature: $\xi \varphi^2 R/2$. We show that…
We introduce conformal coupling of the Standard Model Higgs field to gravity and discuss the subsequent modification of $R^2$-inflation. The main observation is a lower temperature of reheating which happens mostly through scalaron decays…
It is shown that a component of the dynamical affine connection, which is independent of the metric, can drive inflation in agreement with observations. This provides a geometrical origin for the inflaton. It is also found that the decays…
We study the evolution of gravitational waves through the preheating era that follows inflation. The oscillating inflaton drives parametric resonant growth of scalar field fluctuations, and although super-Hubble tensor modes are not…
We explore the generation of large-scale magnetic fields in the so-called moduli inflation. The hypercharge electromagnetic fields couple to not only a scalar field but also a pseudoscalar one, so that the conformal invariance of the…
At the end of inflation the Universe is frozen in a near zero-entropy state with energy density in a coherent scalar field and must be "defrosted" to produce the observed entropy and baryon number. Baryon asymmetry may be generated by the…
We describe a new efficient mechanism of reheating. Immediately after rolling down the rapidly moving inflaton field $\phi$ produces particles $\chi$, which may be either bosons or fermions. This is a nonperturbative process which occurs…
Within the framework of metric-affine theories of gravity, where both the metric and connection are treated as independent variables, we consider actions quadratic in the Ricci scalar curvature coupled non-minimally to a scalar field…
Preheating after inflation may lead to nonthermal phase transitions with symmetry restoration. These phase transitions may occur even if the total energy density of fluctuations produced during reheating is relatively small as compared with…
Primordial magnetogenesis is an intriguing possibility to explain the origin of intergalactic magnetic fields (IGMFs). However, the baryon isocurvature problem has recently been pointed out, ruling out all magnetogenesis models operating…
This is the second in a series of papers on preheating in inflationary models comprised of multiple scalar fields coupled nonminimally to gravity. In this paper, we work in the rigid-spacetime approximation and consider field trajectories…
We analyze in detail the background cosmological evolution of a scalar field coupled to a massless abelian gauge field through an axial term $\frac{\phi}{f_\gamma} F \tilde{F}$, such as in the case of an axion. Gauge fields in this case are…
Inflation is studied in the context of induced gravity (IG) $\gamma \sigma^2 R$, where $R$ is the Ricci scalar, $\sigma$ a scalar field and $\gamma$ a dimensionless constant, and diverse symmetry-breaking potentials $V(\sigma)$ are…
A new class of inflationary attractors characterized by a strongly non-geodesic motion has been discovered and explored in the past few years. I describe how they naturally arise in negatively curved field space, allowing to inflate on…
A kinetic mixing between the axion and the inflaton allows for a production of axion dark matter even if the inflationary Hubble scale is smaller than the zero-temperature axion mass. We analyze the axion dynamics in this recently…
Our understanding of the state of the universe between the end of inflation and big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) is incomplete. The dynamics at the end of inflation are rich and a potential source of observational signatures. Reheating, the…
We numerically study axion-U(1) inflation, focusing on the regime where the coupling between axions and gauge fields results in significant backreaction from the amplified gauge fields during inflation. These amplified gauge fields not only…
This paper concludes our semi-analytic study of preheating in inflationary models comprised of multiple scalar fields coupled nonminimally to gravity. Using the covariant framework of paper I in this series, we extend the rigid-spacetime…